Villagers mob U.S. aid choppers as Philippine relief effort spreads

left

right

A survivor of Typhoon Haiyan gestures after receiving aid delivered by a U.S. military helicopter to a isolated village north of Tacloban November 17, 2013.
REUTERS/Damir Sagolj

1/14

left

right

A Philippine Air Force personnel officer (R) tries to push away survivors of Super Typhoon Haiyan from the moving rotor of a helicopter, as its crew deploys aid into a remote area some 25km (17 miles) west of Tacloban cityNovember 17, 2013. The Philippine and U.S. Air Forces are flying rice, clothes and drinking water into remote areas of the central Philippines, which are unreachable by vehicles.
REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay

2/14

left

right

Smoke rises from campfires as a helicopter crew of the Philippine Air Force approaches a mountainous area inaccessible for vehicles, to distribute food, some 25km (17 miles) west of Tacloban city November 17, 2013. The Philippine and U.S. Air Forces are flying rice, clothes and drinking water into remote areas of the central Philippines, which are unreachable by vehicles.
REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay

3/14

left

right

Children riding in a truck with other people made homeless by Super Typhoon Haiyan, look out of the vehicle as they wait to get relief goods at a government centre in Bogo, Cebu in the central Philippines November 17, 2013.
REUTERS/Erik De Castro

4/14

left

right

Typhoon victims look out from their house that was damaged by Super Typhoon Haiyan in Bogo, Cebu in central Philippines November 17, 2013.
REUTERS/Erik De Castro

5/14

left

right

Survivors of Super Typhoon Haiyan run to get their hands onto a sack of rice dropped by a Philippine Air Force helicopter into a remote location some 25km (17 miles) west of Tacloban November 17, 2013.
REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay (

6/14

left

right

An U.S. Army Marine soldier takes a gasp of air while loading goods into a waiting helicopter to be deployed to survivors of Super Typhoon Haiyan, at Tacloban airport November 17, 2013. The Philippine and U.S. Air Forces are flying rice, clothes and drinking water into remote areas of the central Philippines which are unreachable by vehicles.
REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay

7/14

left

right

A man walks through smoke from fires in a part of Tolosa devastated by Typhoon Haiyan, November 16, 2013. Long-delayed emergency supplies flowed into the typhoon-ravaged central Philippines on Saturday, reaching desperate families who had to fend for themselves for days, as the United Nations more than doubled its estimate of homeless to nearly two million.
REUTERS/John Javellana

8/14

left

right

People carry a coffin with the remains of their relative, who was killed during Typhoon Haiyan, to a damaged cemetery during the victim's funeral in Palo November 16, 2013. Survivors began rebuilding homes destroyed by Haiyan, one of the world's most powerful typhoons, and emergency supplies flowed into ravaged Philippine islands, as the United Nations more than doubled its estimate of people made homeless to nearly two million.
REUTERS/John Javellana

9/14

left

right

A man repairs his house, which was damaged by Typhoon Haiyan, at a coastal area south of Tacloban November 16, 2013. Survivors began rebuilding homes destroyed by Haiyan, one of the world's most powerful typhoons, and emergency supplies flowed into ravaged Philippine islands, as the United Nations more than doubled its estimate of people made homeless to nearly two million.
REUTERS/Damir Sagolj

10/14

left

right

A volunteer from a French rescue team carries an injured girl to a military plane during an evacuation at Tacloban airport in the Typhoon Haiyan devastated city of Tacloban November 16, 2013. Survivors began rebuilding homes destroyed by Haiyan, one of the world's most powerful typhoons, and emergency supplies flowed into ravaged Philippine islands, as the United Nations more than doubled its estimate of people made homeless to nearly two million.
REUTERS/Bobby Yip

11/14

left

right

Filipino soldiers take part in a relief operation for victims of Typhoon Haiyan, at Tacloban airport November 16, 2013. Survivors began rebuilding homes destroyed by Haiyan, one of the world's most powerful typhoons, and emergency supplies flowed into ravaged Philippine islands, as the United Nations more than doubled its estimate of people made homeless to nearly two million.
REUTERS/Bobby Yip

12/14

left

right

A man looks at chickens that escaped from their poultry houses, which were damaged when Super Typhoon Haiyan hit Bantayan island off northern Cebu in central Philippines November 16, 2013. Survivors began rebuilding homes destroyed by Haiyan, one of the world's most powerful typhoons, and emergency supplies flowed into ravaged Philippine islands, as the United Nations more than doubled its estimate of people made homeless to nearly two million.
REUTERS/Erik De Castro

13/14

left

right

Civilians exit a Sea Hawk helicopter from the Golden Falcons of Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron after being airlifted from an area of the Philippines affected by Typhoon Haiyan in Eastern Samar, Philippines in this November 15, 2013 picture provided by the U.S. Navy.
REUTERS/U.S. Navy/Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Liam Kennedy/Handout via Reuters

CABUNGAAN, Philippines Mobbed by hungry villagers, U.S. military helicopters dropped desperately needed aid into remote areas of the typhoon-ravaged central Philippines, as survivors of the disaster flocked to ruined churches on Sunday to pray for their uncertain future.

The Philippines is facing up to an enormous rebuilding task from Typhoon Haiyan, which killed at least 3,974 people and left 1,186 missing, with many isolated communities yet to receive significant aid despite a massive international relief effort.

Philippine authorities and international aid agencies face a mounting humanitarian crisis, with the number of people displaced by the catastrophe estimated at 4 million, up from 900,000 late last week.

President Benigno Aquino, caught off guard by the scale of the disaster and criticized by some for the sometimes chaotic response, visited affected areas on Sunday. Not for the first time, he sought to deflect blame for the problems onto local authorities whose preparations he said had fallen short.

In Guiuan, a hard-hit coastal town in eastern Samar province, he praised the city mayor for conducting a proper evacuation that had limited deaths to less than 100, saying that was a contrast to other towns.

"In other places, I prefer not to talk about it. As your president, I am not allowed to get angry even if I am already upset. I'll just suffer through it with an acidic stomach," said Aquino. "Until I am satisfied with what I am seeing, I will stay here for a while."

While aid packages have begun to reach more remote areas, much of it carried by helicopters brought by the USS George Washington aircraft carrier, the United Nations said people were still going hungry in some mountainous provinces. It said information about several provinces in the west of the Visayas region remained "limited", with 60 percent of people in towns in the northeast part of Capiz province needing food support.

"I remain concerned about the health and well-being of the millions of men, women and children who are still in desperate need," U.N. humanitarian chief Valerie Amos said in a statement.

The risk of skin and respiratory diseases and diarrhoea was very high, with hospital and health centers badly damaged.

"It's raining a lot so everything is wet. The quality of the water is not sufficient," Jean Pletinckx, head of Medecins Sans Frontieres' Haiyan response, told Reuters.

"In Guiuan, the city is completely destroyed. There's nothing left. Everything is broken. The hospital is completely flat."

U.S. AID REACHES REMOTE AREAS

In Cabungaan, a village in the interior of Leyte province's Tanauan district - where as many as 1,200 died - the arrival of a U.S. Seahawk helicopter on Sunday was the first outside help since Haiyan made landfall.

With children in the lead, scores of villagers ran from jury-rigged shanties to greet the helicopter as it settled in a flattened patch of grass. Locals jostled for a view, beaming and yelling "Thank you! Thank you!" as two crew members rushed out aid marked "from the American people."

For the past week, the village's 200-plus residents had been living on one meal a day of "dried fish, sometimes coconuts, not enough rice," said Richel Maballo, 19. Too far from the shore to be hit by the surge of water that devastated the regional capital Tacloban city, the village suffered no deaths.

Back in the air, a member of the aircraft's crew, Jeremy Smith, scribbled in a notebook: "That LZ (landing zone) was tame compared to others where the aircrafts have been mobbed."

The international community has sent or pledged a total of $248 million (10.6 billion pesos) to help 10 million people affected by Haiyan, said the Philippine foreign ministry.

The United States has about 50 ships and aircraft operating in the area, including 10 C130 planes, 12 V-22 Ospreys, Sea Hawk helicopters operating from USS George Washington.

Japan has sent three ships with trucks and engineering equipment, while Thailand, Indonesia and Singapore have sent C130 planes to help deliver relief supplies.

Aquino said he was not satisfied with the slow pace of aid distribution and called for more efficient loading and unloading of relief packs from ports in Luzon and for the urgent restoration of power and communications.

The government estimated damage to infrastructure and agriculture at about 10 billion pesos ($230 million), the bulk of it in the farming sector.

The United Nations warned the economic and human costs could rise if aid did not reach farmers in rice-growing regions in time for the next planting season in December and January. It also said that fishing, another crucial food source, had been placed in jeopardy by the storm.

"The destruction of boats, fishing gear, fish ponds and related equipment left many families with no means of livelihood and decreased protein intake," the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said.

PRAYING FOR A FUTURE

In Tacloban, church-goers in the deeply religious Roman Catholic-majority country knelt in prayer in the shells of ruined churches.

At Santo Niño Church near the waterfront, Rosario Capidos, 55, sat crying in one row, hugging her nine-year-old grandson.

Capidos had been sheltering at home with nine other members of her family when Haiyan struck on November 8. As the waters rose, she floated her three grandchildren on a slab of styrofoam through a road flooded with debris and shipping containers to a nearby Chinese temple. Her family survived.

"That's why I'm crying," she said. "I thank God I was given a second chance to live."

In Hong Kong, thousands of Filipinos, many domestic helpers on their one day off work, rallied on Sunday in parks, churches and streets to raise aid donations and pray for their loved ones at home.

"We cannot concentrate on our work, especially when we talk to them and they complain that they are so hungry," said a helper named Fatima whose daughter had been involved in a fight for instant noodles in an evacuation centre near Boracay.

Tearful Filipinos lined church pews in Hong Kong in a string of masses, while others packed boxes of relief supplies to be whisked away by courier firms offering their services for free.

"We are here physically, but in our hearts we are with the people in the Philippines," said Elvera Podador.

(Writing by Stuart Grudgings; Editing by John Mair and Michael Perry)

Next In World News

SEOUL South Korean lawmakers voted overwhelmingly on Friday to impeach President Park Geun-hye over an influence-peddling scandal, setting the stage for her to become the country's first elected leader to be expelled from office in disgrace.

ALEPPO, Syria/BEIRUT The Syrian army pressed an offensive in Aleppo on Friday with ground fighting and air strikes in an operation to retake all of the city's besieged rebel-held east that would bring victory in the civil war closer for President Bashar al-Assad.

BAGHDAD Iraqi forces captured a neighborhood in east Mosul on Friday, pushing deeper to the heart of Islamic State's Iraq stronghold and destroying three sites where it produced car bombs used in waves of suicide attacks, the campaign's commander said.

Reuters is the news and media division of Thomson Reuters. Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Learn more about Thomson Reuters products: